A northernmost occurrence record of Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) – a molecular identification from Exmouth, Western Australia

Melissa A. Millar; Kelly A. Waples; Holly C. Raudino; Kym Ottewell

doi:10.1071/ZO24033

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Next Contents Vol 73(3)

A northernmost occurrence record of Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) – a molecular identification from Exmouth, Western Australia

Melissa A. Millar

^A ^* , Kelly A. Waples ^A , Holly C. Raudino ^A and Kym Ottewell

^A ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Perth, WA, Australia.

^B School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: melissa.millar@dbca.wa.gov.au

Handling Editor: Brad Law

Australian Journal of Zoology 73, ZO24033 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO24033

Submitted: 1 November 2024 Accepted: 3 March 2025 Published: 17 March 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) is one of the least known beaked whales. Its distribution has been described as circumpolar, between latitudes 26°S and 50°S in the Southern Hemisphere based on scarce at-sea sightings and strandings. In March 2024, the remains of a cetacean were found in the Jurabi Coastal Park in North West Cape, Western Australia, 21°48′S, 114°06′E. Heavy predation on the carcass did not allow morphological identification. DNA sequencing was used to verify its identity as T. shepherdi, representing a 600 km extension to the previous northernmost record for this species.

Keywords: cetacean, DNA sequencing, molecular identification, Shepherd’s beaked whale, species distribution, Tasmacetus shepherdi, Western Australia, Ziphiidae.

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